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Been researching which GUI toolkit to use in an upcoming project. I'm favoring wxPython(wxwidgets) because it's very cross platform. PyQt looks nice but it has the same licensing issues as Qt in general.

For all my Python apps with a GUI, I have used PyGTK. I mainly chose it because I wanted to use an application to design the GUI interface and I preferred Glade over Qt Designer at that time. I have taken a look at Qt 4 Designer and I like it more than the old Qt Designer so I might have to try PyQt out sometime. If I were focused on making a cross-platform application, I would probably choose to use wxPython.

wxPython seems to be the Python widget set of choice lately. You can get your feet wet doing quick and dirty Guis using Python Card; for more serious work, take a flying leap at WxPython in Action (Manning) by Noel Rappin and Robin Dunn. This is a thorough book which shows you how to create GUIs using PyCrust. Highly recommended. (Hint: show topic!)

Tk seems to be back on the forefront .
http://osnews.com/story/20181/Tcl_Tk_Gets_Makeover

walter_mellon wrote:wxPython seems to be the Python widget set of choice lately. You can get your feet wet doing quick and dirty Guis using Python Card; for more serious work, take a flying leap at WxPython in Action (Manning) by Noel Rappin and Robin Dunn. This is a thorough book which shows you how to create GUIs using PyCrust. Highly recommended. (Hint: show topic!)

Got the book and sent an email to the author of PyCrust.
Thanks

Patrick wrote:Been researching which GUI toolkit to use in an upcoming project. I'm favoring wxPython(wxwidgets) because it's very cross platform. PyQt looks nice but it has the same licensing issues as Qt in general.

What licensing issue is that? GPL to write freesoftware, commercial if you write commercial software, sounds fair to me! Especially considering the amount of work that goes into QT, they gotta make a living somehow and it only seems fair they make a living if you intend to do the same off their library. So what licensing "issue" is this again?

sulfide wrote:

Patrick wrote:Been researching which GUI toolkit to use in an upcoming project. I'm favoring wxPython(wxwidgets) because it's very cross platform. PyQt looks nice but it has the same licensing issues as Qt in general.

What licensing issue is that? GPL to write freesoftware, commercial if you write commercial software, sounds fair to me! Especially considering the amount of work that goes into QT, they gotta make a living somehow and it only seems fair they make a living if you intend to do the same off their library. So what licensing "issue" is this again?

I agree, and the thing is, you can absolutely make money off of the free version of Qt. Heck, that's what every commercial GNU/Linux distribution does if they include Qt and KDE. "The freedom to sell copies is part of the essential freedom, if you're not allowed to sell copies it's not free software" - Richard Stallman.

sulfide wrote:What licensing issue is that? GPL to write freesoftware, commercial if you write commercial software, sounds fair to me! Especially considering the amount of work that goes into QT, they gotta make a living somehow and it only seems fair they make a living if you intend to do the same off their library. So what licensing "issue" is this again?

You explained the issue yourself. I'm not knocking it just making people aware of it. Nokia & Trolltech do a lot of good for the open source community.

Patrick wrote:

sulfide wrote:What licensing issue is that? GPL to write freesoftware, commercial if you write commercial software, sounds fair to me! Especially considering the amount of work that goes into QT, they gotta make a living somehow and it only seems fair they make a living if you intend to do the same off their library. So what licensing "issue" is this again?

You explained the issue yourself. I'm not knocking it just making people aware of it. Nokia & Trolltech do a lot of good for the open source community.

What I explained is the issue? Which part exactly, where if you want to write commercial software you must buy a commercial license? Also, what are you making people aware of? In fact, it's an advantage most GPL only software doesn't have. Or are you trying to say that since it is a library the "issue" is it's licensed as GPL and not L-GPL or some wxWidgets type license. Just asking for some clarity on the somewhat vague opening post, which seems to instill somewhat negative connotation toward using PyQT or QT without giving any solid reason.

Tsuroerusu: Glad to see you agree, and you get points for being captain obvious

sulfide wrote:Just asking for some clarity on the somewhat vague opening post, which seems to instill somewhat negative connotation toward using PyQT or QT without giving any solid reason.

The issue is that you have to pay money if you're developing commercial software using Qt. I'm not criticizing it just acknowledging it. Is that clear enough for you now?

sulfide wrote:Tsuroerusu: Glad to see you agree,

sulfide wrote:and you get points for being captain obvious

It's a dirty job, but somebody's gotta do it!

I'm working on an application for my job and wanted to prototype it using both pyqt and wxpython. I'm on the first version that uses pyqt. I created a gui using QtDesigner. I have to admit qt4 looks very nice. I contacted Trolltech regarding a commercial license since this would be used for a non F/OSS application. The prices for a single developer license:
$3,695 for one platform
$5,295 for multi-platfrom
You also have to purchase a pyqt license for $515

A little steep IMHO. I'm thinking of writing a GPL licensed GUI frontend for dgen (Sega Genesis emulator). In that case Qt is free to use without cost.

That is pretty steep. I would be interested to know if, in your opinion, there enough difference in appearance to justify paying the cost, even if your employer is picking up the tab. Also, have you noticed any performance difference between the toolkits?